Posts by TracyMac

I know it's trendy to pile on about school uniforms, but they have a function that was valuable to me growing up, in a poor family that lived in rich, poor and middling areas. They don't confer magic powers of discipline and pride in kids, but they're a democratising outfit.

You lose many of the shitty status cues embodied in mufti clothing, and it's also one outfit that had to be kept in reasonable wear, and had nothing to do with fashion. Even at the decile 1 school I attended (before deciles existed), I dreaded mufti day, because I had nothing modern, or first-hand, or the slightest bit cool to wear. It was obviously much worse in places like Epsom.

Of course, in these days of ridiculously over-priced uniforms, I think that egalitarian aim is undermined, but still.

As for single-sex schools, I can also vouch for the fact it's a very different kettle of fish for girls, often. I went to 9 schools; there is no comparison between 8 of them and the one state girls' school I went to. I'm sure the school itself was important - maybe a Selwyn would have been just as liberating - but I've heard the same from others who had the same experience (and I think studies reflect that girls tend to do better overall).

An interesting conundrum that one. Part of the objectives of education is to do a bit of societal indoctrination - how soon do girls need to accustomise themselves to subtle and not-so sexism from their peers and "superiors" (beyond possible family influences)?

possibly with many people not being able to afford food, shelter or education they're keen to get those sorted before addressing the horror of seeing a loading icon in Youtube.

I couldn't agree more.We have way more problems in terms of getting adequately fed, sheltered, and healthy kids into school than, frankly, what I still consider to be middle-class welfare. (I'm middle class myself, and yes, I find NZ's internet offerings to be embarrassing, but still)

The dangerous part is where more and more education and access to various services - try finding jobs these days without using the internet - assume that you do have both equipment and access and knowledge. There's a mighty gap developing.

They certainly charge like wounded bulls in their restaurants now (for the quality and range of food), although I did like the $2 all you can eat jobbies at uni 20 years ago.

However, they really aren't so calm if you tell them "no", you are not going to give them a donation for those books they try to push off on you. And what makes it worse is the trend they have for going in mufti to do their proselytising (not the Friday evening danceabout). I still don't think much of the Sallies, but at least they're honest.

In terms of women's magazines, Marie Claire is one I can stomach, because they write good meaty articles. Of course, you have to page past 200-odd pages of glossy ads, but some people like pretty dress pics in amongst the meaty reading.

As for Bindel, I wish the Guardian would piss her off. It's tedious when you click on a potentially-interesting headline without noticing the byline, and then having to hit the back-button.

Thanks, Chris. I personally tend to agree with the thrust of the Times article, in that any association cannabis use has with mental health issues is not going to be a mechanistic cause/effect one. And this is with close personal experience of people who were cannabis-dependent and had associated issues.

Any arguments about risk reduction from cops are just ludicrous in the context of a state-supported alcohol industry, in any case.

Re Jobs and Young, eh, you're not going to bring such an influential and older-school musician home and crank up the Nano attached to your 5W boombox, are you?

I get a bit tired of the "marvels of vinyl" trope. Sure, if you had refernce-quality gear and kept records in archival condition, it sounded great. But neither if those things applied to anyone I knew.

While I'm ranting, the fake vinyl effect on some modern tracks winds me up. No, that crackle and hiss never occurred on some quirky off-beat of the music, and conveniently cut out at an 8-bar interval. Fake nostalgia, gah.

I loved the claims from the cops after the big pot bust in Wgtn last week that marijuana is the illicit drug responsible for the most hospital admissions. I suppose if you include psych admissions, it could well be true. NO mention of alcohol-related admissions, or how many of those stoned patients were also drunk. You never see those comparisons in mainstream media here.